33 Doctoral Degree Programs in Austria

The Ph.D. in Business and Socioeconomic Sciences curriculum prepares qualified candidates with state-of-the-art approaches to conducting scholarly and applied research. The program emphasizes a multidisciplinary approach to finding solutions to research problems, drawing upon advanced concepts and methods from business management, economics, policy studies, sociology, and philosophy of science. Required foundation courses are taught in theory, methods, and research design.

The PhD program Computational X promotes interdisciplinary research facilitating the convergence of natural sciences like biology, social sciences and humanities with computational sciences. The program supports junior researchers in developing their abilities to perform independent scientific research.

The Doctoral Program in International Business Taxa­tion (DIBT) offers an excellent doctoral education to outstanding students from all over the world, fully preparing them to conduct research on international business taxation.

The purpose of the program is to offer doctoral-level education matching the highest international standards in the fields of Sociology and Social Anthropology for prospective scholars and teachers. The Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology offers a doctoral program accredited by the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York (US) for and on behalf of the New York State Education Department and on behalf of the Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation Austria (AQ Austria).

ISTA is a cross-disciplinary research institution that combines basic science research with graduate education. Our scientists perform theoretical and experimental research in Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Life Sciences, and Information and System Sciences. ISTA is located on the outskirts of Vienna, Austria.

The PhD in Comparative History offers doctoral education matching the highest international standards for prospective scholars and teachers. A particular - indeed unique - feature of the program is that it focuses on the comparison, interconnectedness, and entanglements of distinct geo-cultural regions: Central, Southeastern, and Eastern Europe, and the Eastern Mediterranean, in close relation to the history of other historical regions, most notably with Western Europe and the Middle East. 

The PhD in Comparative Gender Studies is a 4-6 year program for students with substantial MA-level background in gender studies theory and methodologies who wish to specialize in interdisciplinary research and teaching in an academic setting. Accredited in both the US and Austria, the program combines elements of North American and European style degrees with coursework, research proposal development, and a Comprehensive Exam in the first year, followed by research and dissertation writing alongside professional development in subsequent years.

The PhD program in Network Science is a research-oriented program that provides the only PhD degree in this field in Europe. Network science provides essential tools to study complex systems including society online and offline, the economy or urban traffic. Accordingly, the program provides hands-on experience with large datasets characterizing those systems and the skills needed to analyze them.

In the RNA Biology PhD track, RNA-based regulatory circuits are explored in silico, in vitro and in vivo with technologies ranging from bioinformatics to biochemistry to imaging. RNAS mediate gene expression but have also regulatory, structural and signaling functions. Consequently, aberrant RNA processing, structure or function affects organismal development and health.

Doctor of Philosophy in Cognitive Science The Department of Cognitive Science offers a PhD program in Cognitive Science. This research-based, interdisciplinary program offers specialization in the fields of social cognition, cognitive development, and formal and biological models of perception and learning. Students may take courses in cognitive psychology, philosophy of mind, cognitive anthropology, visual perception and computational modelling.

This program explores innate and adaptive immunity, focusing on defense mechanisms, immune regulation, and related diseases. Students gain insights essential for developing advanced therapies for autoimmune disorders, cancer, and infections—crucial in modern biomedical science.

This PhD program aims at students with a mathematical, statistical, computational, or similar background who desire to advance biomedical sciences by applying their skills in technical, natural and formal sciences. We aim at forming a compact community of young natural scientists interacting with life scientists.

Infectious diseases have been a scourge of humanity since the beginning of time, and the present COVID-19 pandemic reminds us again how vulnerable we are to pathogens, even in the age of modern medicine and hygiene. Indeed, communicable diseases still cause a large proportion of annual deaths, especially in low-income countries, which carry the largest burden.

Modern neuroscience is a multi-disciplinary field that includes biochemistry, molecular neurobiology, cellular neurobiology, neurophysiology, neuropharmacology, neuroanatomy, neuropathology, neuroimmunology, clinical neuroscience, psychology, psychiatry and neurology. The aim of the neuroscience program is to educate students to PhD level using a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary approach preparing them for an enspiring scientific career within the field of neuroscience in academia and/or industry.

The PhD in Late Antique, Medieval and Early Modern Studies has earned international recognition for its methodological richness and the application of innovative research tools; the curriculum stresses the interconnectedness of various disciplines, emphasizing multi- and interdisciplinary comparative research. Our departmental faculty of recognized experts in their respective fields provides students with supervision and guidance not only to help them accomplish the immediate goal of submitting their dissertations successfully within four years but also to assist them with regard to their future careers.

The PhD program in economics prepares you to conduct cutting-edge original research addressing the fundamental economic questions of our time.  Learn the skills of leading economists, choose from many specializations, and develop your research program.  You can utilize your knowledge in faculty positions in academia, in governmental organizations, as well as in the private sector.

Our PhD program for "Digital Transformation in Learning" invites you to investigate how artificial intelligence is revolutionizing when, what and how we learn. This program enables students to delve into the use of intelligent learning technologies to enhance and scale active learning approaches in higher education.

The objective of the PhD Program Medical Physics is to provide excellent training opportunities in the various fields of Medical Physics. This will be achieved by offering students the opportunity to work on cutting-edge research projects in research teams that are among the international leaders in their fields.